1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to aquatic exercise apparatus, and more particularly to a set of flat plates for aquatic exercise that create drag when used in water, such as a swimming pool, to resist muscle contraction or movement, and sets of the plates having surface areas of different size in a system to provide therapeutic beneficial effects of aerobic, anaerobic, and combined exercises.
2. Background Art
Aquatic exercise devices that create drag in when pushed or pulled through a body of water, such as a swimming pool, are known in the art. Most prior art aquatic exercise devices have wrist straps, appendage handgrips, and valve adjustments for changing drag, making them overly complicated and expensive to manufacture. The retail cost of some of these items is relatively high and may prevent a large number of people from purchasing and using them and, therefore not obtaining the benefits offered by an aquatic exercise device. The following are patents directed toward various aquatic exercise devices of the prior art:
U.S. Pat. No. 2,569,200, issued Sep. 25, 1951 to Emerson V. Smith, discloses a flat relatively small swimming paddle having parallel lateral sides, a rounded top or front edge, a bottom edge having a central inwardly curved cut away portion to form a palm and wrist opening, and an arcuate finger opening disposed a short distance above the cut away palm and wrist opening. The central inwardly curved cut away palm and wrist opening is of sufficient width to provide clearance of the thumb of the user's hand. Although the Smith swimming paddle may be suitable for use as aid in swimming, it does not provide any surface for receiving the palm and a portion of the forearm of the user, and would not be suitable for resistance exercises, since it has very little surface area to provide drag, no support surface for the user's palm and forearm, would be difficult to maintain a grip when moved through the water, and the grip would provide no lateral stability or longitudinal stability of the paddle as it is moved through the water.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,913,907, issued Oct. 21, 1975, to Charles O. Baker discloses an aquatic exercise device which includes a handgrip, a wrist strap, and an adjustable valve member to vary the surface area. All of these items would increase production time and cost.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,480,829, issued Nov. 6, 1984 to Anton Yacoboski, discloses an exercising and body toning device known commercially as the Aquaflex®, fitness paddles which comprise a handle with circular resistance members fixed on opposite ends thereof. Each resistance member comprises a pair of co-axial discs with sector openings therethrough so that they may be fixed in selected relative angular positions, with the openings in adjusted registration to adjust the resistance of movement of the device through water.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,509,744, issued Apr. 9, 1985 to Robert L. Beasley discloses an aquatic exercise device marketed by Aqua-gym®, comprising a substantially rectangular, flat rigid fluid resistance member having a U-shaped hand gripping member disposed in adjustably fixed spaced relation relative to the surface of the flat fluid resistance member, a wrist guide including a flat rigid stability member extending in a coplanar relation relative to the fluid resistance member to engage the user's wrist, and a J-shaped axial alignment member extending from one longitudinal edge of the rigid stability member to receive the user's wrist such that the user grasps the U-shaped hand gripping member while placing his wrist within the J-shaped axial alignment member.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,565,369, issued Jan. 21, 1986 to Douglas H. Bedgood, known commercially as the Aquatoner®, discloses a variable resistance aquatic exercising device for subjecting arms, legs and associated parts of a user's body to desired degrees of stress as the user moves his arms or legs through a body of water. The device has a handle and a plurality of flat, elongate fan-shaped panels disposed in stacked relation to each other, each having a mounting aperture through its center. A bolt extends through the apertures and adjustably attaches the panels to the handle. Spacers are positioned between adjacent panels to permit fluid flow between the panels and to protect the surfaces of the panels. The exercising device also has a flexible and adjustable mounting strap, disposed opposite the handle and attached to the panels.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,632,387, issued Dec. 30, 1986 to Horacio J. Guzman, discloses exercise enhancing devices attached to the foot and leg of a person to enable selective development of the muscles in aquatic environment. The devices are provided with adjustable vent apertures that enable adjustment of the water resistance to movement of the device to achieve compatibility with the desires of the user. A body support device releasably attachable to the side of a swimming pool enables the devices to enhance torso or abdominal exercises in order that a complete workout of all or selected body muscles may be achieved.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,685,667, issued Aug. 11, 1987, to Malcom C. McDonald discloses an aquatic exercise system which includes a round water resistance device with a hand grip opening in the center. If this device were cut out of rectangular sheets it would have a high cost per unit of drag produced.
The present invention is distinguished over the prior art in general, and these patents in particular by a set of generally rectangular flat plates for aquatic exercise that create drag when moved through a body of water. Each flat plate is provided with an arcuate finger slot for receiving the user's four fingers and an aperture for receiving their thumb. The finger slot and thumb aperture are strategically located such that when the plate is gripped, the center of the palm of the user's hand lays over the center of the flat plate on one side and the fingers and thumb are folded over to engage the opposite side. This feature allows the drag produced by moving the flat plate through the water to be transferred to the center of the flat plate, and the thumb aperture allows larger flat plates to be used to provide increased surface area. Another additional advantage of the strategic placement of the finger slot and thumb aperture and increased surface area is that the user's forearm lays parallel to and over the longitudinal center line of the flat plate, thus providing good balance and lateral stability of the plate as it is moved through the water. The gripping feature also eliminates the need for attached handgrips or wrist straps as required in some prior art devices and allows the plates to have lower cost per unit of drag than any other of the prior art devices.